The Sex of the Immediate Supervisor and the Gender Pay Gap

In his 2012 re-election campaign, President Barack Obama stated that “women (are) paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men,” which quickly provoked outcries from some economists. Is the gender pay gap entirely due to discrimination against women like the President claimed? Or are there other factors that come into play?
Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1997, I aim to unpack the wage gap and investigate determinants other than discrimination that potentially contribute to male and female wage inequality. My research will focus on the impact the sex of the immediate supervisor has on a worker’s earnings. Given the fact that the immediate supervisor can influence a worker’s wage directly through job evaluations or indirectly through discriminatory attitude and behaviors at work, this study can provide more insights into the sources of the gender pay gap.